10,000 Haredi draft notices issued by IDF: Shocking enlistment numbers revealed

An IDF representative speaking to the Knesset today (Wednesday) said that it sent out 10,000 draft notices to draft-eligible Haredi men - but just 205 enlisted in the army.

According to the Knesset Spokesperson, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee held another discussion today on the proposed Security Service Law. Lieutenant Colonel Avigdor Dickstein, Head of the Haredi Department, presented updated data regarding the recruitment of Haredim, according to which 1,721 have enlisted since the beginning of the recruitment year.

The numbers he presented for each draft round were stunning:

"Regarding the issuance of orders, in the first trimester 3,000 orders were issued, of which 602 are in the system, and of those 113 were actually recruited. There are also 1,522 "Order 12" notifications, and 856 individuals were declared as draft dodgers. In the second trimester, 7,000 orders were issued, 354 reported, of which 92 were actually recruited. There are 1,096 arrest warrants and 370 detention orders."

Ever since the Supreme Court ruling last July that the arrangements allowing for the exemption of tens of thousands of Haredi yeshivah students are invalid, the government has been searching for a way to resolve the matter.

The IDF has, as noted, tried to issue draft notices as required by law, but the results have been paltry, as a combination of social pressure and sincere religious opposition to serving in the army have prevented all but a handful from voluntarily enlisting.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has been trying to advance a draft law which would maintain some level of exemption for yeshivah students while increasing the number of Haredi soldiers in the army over the course of years, but these efforts are hamstrung by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman, MK Yuli Edelstein, who insists that the numbers and rates of enlistment be much higher than Katz's proposal.

The IDF senior leadership insists it needs thousands of soldiers now in order to be able to keep up with all the new security requirements, and many leaders in the opposition insist that the government impose personal economic sanctions on Haredim who refuse to enlist, though whether this will work to solve the army's manpower problems effectively remains an open question.